TWOTEENSTOSTANDTRIALINBATTERYCASE

Two local residents have been ordered to stand trial on a charge of aggravated battery.

A Douglas County judge on Wednesday bound two local men over for trial and discharged another from custody on charges stemming from an incident last month during which a bicyclist was run down on an East Lawrence street.

Martin Miller, assistant Douglas County district attorney, said Jeremy R. Kriner, 17, 1631 Kenwood, and Daniel R. Higgins, 19, 3323 Iowa, each were bound over for trial on a charge of aggravated battery. District Judge Paula Martin ruled after the preliminary hearing that they shouldn't be bound over to stand trial on other charges of attempted aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

The preliminary hearing was Tuesday. Martin issued her ruling Wednesday morning. Evidence presented during the preliminary hearing indicated that Kriner was driving a black Ford Bronco that swerved to strike a 19-year-old St. Louis man riding his bicycle on the 1600 block of New Hampshire.

After the impact, both the victim and his $500 bicycle were dragged under the Bronco as it left the roadway and came to rest in the yard of a residence.

Miller said the judge dismissed the conspiracy charge because she found there was no evidence indicating a conspiracy. Because there was no evidence of a conspiracy, statements the co-defendants made against each other also were ruled inadmissible. Lack of evidence left prosecutors with insufficient evidence to support the attempted aggravated robbery charge, Miller said.

The judge also dismissed charges of aggravated battery, attempted aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery that had been filed against Sheldon P. Flowers, 18, 1503 W. Second. Those charges were dismissed because of insufficient evidence, Miller said.

A fourth suspect, Dustin R. Causer, 17, 2701 Rawhide, was named in a juvenile complaint alleging one count each of aggravated battery, attempted aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. A hearing on a motion to suppress evidence in that case is scheduled for Oct. 26 and 27.

During their arraignment, Kriner and Higgins each pleaded innocent to the aggravated battery charge. The trial will be set Oct. 24.